Dirty tricks of the REAL nasty party

At the core of Nick Clegg’s message is the very powerful claim that his Liberal Democrats represent a new honesty and decency – in stark contrast to the corruption of the two main political parties.

Yet this claim is cynical. The truth is that Clegg is the leader of a profoundly dishonest party that is prepared to lie, cheat and on occasion issue outrageous smears on its opponents in order to win power.

The LibDems are so determined to win votes that they even appear ready to take advantage of tragedies affecting opponents.

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When I spoke to local LibDem organisers they denied that Ms Tierney was referring to the death of Ms Binge, and insisted that she was doing no more than calling into question the suspicious timing of some of the Tory resignations close to the General Election.

But it is undeniable that some Liberal Democrats lie and cheat. Take the case of Sarah Carr, the LibDem candidate for Hereford, who has published a series of false claims about her Conservative opponent.

‘If the Conservatives get their way,’ she asserts in her campaign literature, ‘we could end up with an American- style health system where millions of poor and older people don’t get any health care.’

These remarks are based on comments by the rogue Tory MEP Daniel Hannan. But – as Carr must have known – Hannan was promptly slapped down by David Cameron. Ms Carr’s allegations are directly contradicted by the Tory manifesto commitment to increase investment in the NHS.

However, to give the accusations extra credence, they have been cunningly placed in campaign literature opposite a fetching photograph of Sarah Carr in conversation with the chief executive of the local hospital, Martin Woodford, creating the false impression that he endorsed these views.

Ms Carr had not even asked permission to use the misleading image. Mr Woodford now says that he was ‘quite shocked that my photo has been used in this way’, and has demanded to be disassociated from the campaign literature. A spokesman for Sarah Carr said last night that she ‘will not be apologising for or retracting any statements made’.

Another LibDem tactic is the planting of fan mail about their political leaders.

Jeremy Hilton, the LibDem candidate for Gloucester, was recently caught out drafting a letter of praise about himself to appear in the local paper under someone else’s name.

Hilton sent an e-mail to the person he wished to appear had ‘ written’ the letter, a former Labour councillor, saying: ‘Attached is a draft letter for you to send to the [newspaper] written by my press officer. If you are OK with it, cut and paste into an email and send it.’

A spokesman for Hilton said that the letter’s ‘author’ was ill at the time, and needed help in the drafting process.

And to be fair to the Liberals, faking such letters is a technique common to political parties.

Another characteristic Liberal Democrat campaigning technique is to adopt contradictory policies in different parts of the country.

Thus Nick Clegg nationally campaigns on a pro-Europe stance, but candidates in constituencies where Euro-scepticism is rife – such as David Heath in Somerton and Frome – are permitted to challenge the party line.

It’s a similar story on immigration. In some areas local Liberal Democrats call for strong action against immigration.

For example, the party’s literature sent out to voters in Kenilworth states that ‘immigration, especially illegal immigration, is rightly of concern to many people and lack of proper controls is just not good enough’.

But in February this year Nick Clegg told a very different story to voters in affluent Hove, attacking ‘nasty Right-wing politicians’ for trying to blame immigrants for Britain’s problems.

One memo told activists: ‘You can secure support from voters who normally vote Tory by being
effectively anti-Labour – and similarly in a Tory area secure Labour
votes by being anti-Tory’

Then there’s law and order. Nationally the LibDems take a compassionate line on crime, accusing Tory and Labour of being caught in a ‘sentencing arms race’ where criminals are punished too harshly.

But to win votes locally Liberal Democrats do not hesitate to talk tough themselves.

Nick Clegg himself called for sentencing policy to be strengthened in a community newsletter sent out in Brighton last March: ‘A “life sentence” usually means just over ten years in prison. It’s got to change.’

In the same vein, the Liberal Democrats try to win votes by sending out a completely different economic message locally than they do at national level.

For instance, their Treasury spokesman Vince Cable warned two weeks ago that he would impose more ferocious spending cuts even than Margaret Thatcher if the Liberal Democrats won power.

Yet at a local level Bromsgrove LibDems have been trying to make political capital by insisting that Conservatives will make ‘ savage cuts’ after the election.

Liberal Democrats are also capable of descending into sheer nastiness, as can be seen on a LibDem website for the party’s candidate for Mid-Bedfordshire, Linda Jack.

This personally targets Tory MP Nadine Dorries, portraying her as a sleazy and vulgar attention-seeker.

Ms Jack was careful not to say anything outright that could be challenged, but she put up images of Miss Dorries alongside innuendo-filled attacks on her.

These kind of tactics are not isolated episodes – rather they are part of a deliberate LibDem campaign strategy.